“No.” I sighed.

“But that doesn’t matter. How are you doing- oh, how is Cohadiya?”

Serylea let me go before wiping the tears that had fallen from her face.

“We managed to recover what we could over here and we expanded deep into the Expanse to give everyone the necessary space. And as for Cohadiya, it’s doing really well. With a lot of outgoing traffic being the fish we catch. Oh- and speaking of which, we made contact with people who live on a distant continent to the west but we’ll discuss that after you have settled in.” Serylea explained.

“Alright. I’ll see you later, I have to say hi to everyone.”

Serylea nodded before suddenly disappearing.

Shiru then accompanied me into an office where Fíor sat. Her head buried in a pile of documents.

She didn’t even notice Shiru and I even though we stood just in front of her desk.

“Ahem!” I sounded startling her in the process.

She glared at me for a moment before suddenly dropping her pen, standing up and rushing towards me.

She then gave me a big hug and I hugged her back.

“Deag… the collision…” She barely managed to say.

“Do you think I’ll ever see him again?” She asked.

“I… I don’t know”.

Fíor eventually let me go and gave me a weak nod.

I nodded back before following Shiru out of the office.

We then entered Thneia’s office and were immediately greeted by a sudden increase in temperature.

I looked into Thneia’s widened eyes and she must’ve noticed that she was practically cooking us because her pupils narrowed and the air rapidly cooled afterward.

“Hello, Lord Katsíki.” She greeted.

I let out a weak chuckle before transforming into my smaller self.

I then moved over to her and she watched, with wide eyes as I crawled onto her lap.

“Hey.” I said while stretching my smaller, lighter arms.

My entire body then froze as she placed her hand on my head.

I let out a deep sigh. Allowing myself to fully fall into Thneia’s embrace as she wrapped her other arm around me.

“How does time feel for dragons?” I asked.

“It exists without subdivision. For me, hours, days and even years are all just a never-ending stream.” Thneia sad. I relished in the low rumbled of her voice.

“Can I offer you argument for that train of thought?” I asked with half closed eyes.

“Please do.”

“I’m pretty sure you remember your time in Coh, right?”

“Mmm.” Thneia sounded in agreement.

“And you remember your time in Rahadiya, no? So, I suppose the way you would perceive time is tied with where you spend it.”

“Mmm... I suppose so.” Thneia said before giggling.

“Are you always pondering on such things?” She asked but I shook my head.

“I just wanted to offer you a different perspective. Anyway, gotta go. Lots of people to greet.” I said while crawling out of her embrace.

I then gave Thneia a parting smile and joined Shiru in leaving the office.

“Where is Farin?”

“Oh, he lives a few houses away from mine. Voliah.” Shiru called and like that, a certain Kommáti appeared next to us.

“Please take us to Farin’s home. He should still be cooped up in there.”

Voliah nodded and teleported us to the doorstep of one of Coh’s many homes.

Shiru then opened the door without knocking, leading me into the dimly lit home which was filled nearly entirely with books and documents.

We manoeuvred past them and reached a staircase that led downwards.

This wasn’t a problem for me since I could just lift my wheelchair off the ground by a few centimetres, allowing me to float down the stairs.

We eventually arrived at a large doorway that led into a grand library at the centre of which sat a old man.

As with all Rendaro, his hair remained pure black even though his face was covered in wrinkles. He wore a thin black silk gown and it seemed as though something was actively heating the room.

Shiru and I approached the man as he worked.

“Farin.” I called and the old Rendaro dropped his pen before turning to face me.

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He slowly stood up and walked over to me.

His eyes quaking violently.

I spread my arms and Farin rushed in to hug me.

We held each other for a moment in the silence of his library and my mind shook as he ran his old hands through my hair.

“Hello, Katsíki.”

“Hello, Farin.” I greeted as he let me go.

We then looked into each other’s eyes for another moment.

He had grown much older but then again, I wasn’t gone for that long.

I opened my mouth to speak but no words came to mind and so I just stuttered.

Farin smiled at this before gesturing to the large round table where he worked.

“A lot happened after you left. We rebuilt, we expanded our territory and we made contact with the distant nation of Quitenia and you will not believe what I saw on my visit there.”

“What?” I asked as Farin picked up a portrait but he kept it hidden behind his back as his eyes lit up with excitement.

He then dramatically revealed the portrait allowing me to see the painting of a man who looked a lot like the woman who rode atop Sagathon’s back.

“A Haneem?” I asked.

“Y-yes but… have you met one before?” Farin asked with a pout.

“Yes. Sagathon, the Dragon who probably convinced Luno to come get me, had a Haneem woman sitting on his back. But don’t worry. We barely interacted. Tell me what you learnt.”

Farin nodded as the fire in his eyes grew brighter but just as he opened his mouth to speak he lowered his head.

“We will have to talk later. I’m sure you have many more people to greet.”

“That’s true. How about this: you finish up you work here and I’ll go greet everyone else. We’ll then meet up at Shiru’s place where you can tell me all you learnt over dinner. Sound good?”

Farin nodded with a weak smile.

I gave him a nod before following Shiru out of the house.

“Who’s next?” I wondered aloud.

“Do you want to visit Eimval?”

“Good idea but let’s start with the Oasis. We’ll pass through Eimval before making our way to Mt. Jivu.”

Shiru nodded and it wasn’t long before we were standing in front of the wall the guarded the Oasis.

The guards allowed us in and I was surprised by just how many Coh style buildings littered the Oasis.

Also, the path to the central village was paved with darkness making it easy for us to travel.

Something I also noticed was that although a few Foph could be seen wearing Coh style clothes, pants, shirts and our standard battle equipment, the vast majority still wore their leather loincloths.

We eventually at the Arcusus’ tent which the guards allowed us to enter.

We then entered Calëb’s quarters to find her hard at work.

My brows furrowed upon seeing that, even though she looked a lot healthier than I remembered, she was style cycling life in and out of her body to keep herself alive.

She raised her glowing green eyes and look at me with an expression I couldn’t quite recognize.

“Hello, Lord Katsíki.” She greeted before dragging her eyes to Shiru.

Her eyes then returned to me.

“Hello. Just wanted to check up on ya.”

“Oh, thank you but all is well. A little too well, in my opinion. We have spotted no sign of military activity along the border from Lanceberg and I can’t help but feel that they are plotting something.”

“Then it would be best if we were prepared, no? I believe I heard someone say something about a Sable Army?” I asked while glancing at Shiru.

“Yes. We are working on an army of soldiers half as strong as a Kommáti. The plan is to have one of them in every squad and troop but that’s only as an addition to our general forces. We had a plan for dealing with Primair level knights but it was recently halted due to a warning given to us by the Scholars in Quitenia. I’ll tell you all about if we have time tomorrow.” Shiru explained.

I nodded before turning to Calëb.

“Well, goodbye for now then. I’m off to Eimval but don’t hesitate to sound off any of your concerns, OK?”

Calëb nodded.

Shiru and I then made our way to Eimval where my heart ached upon seeing the massive hole where the city once stood.

We were standing on top of the city’s wall and so I had a clear view of them bottom where countless Rendaro could be seen working away.

“We have excavated almost every useful resource from within the pit and we are currently discussing possible uses for it.” Shiru explained and all I could do was nod in acknowledgement.

I turned around and saw countless houses and tents along the outer side of the wall.

“Llana is overseeing everything here.”

“Llana?” I asked while trying to recall who she was.

“The Draconic Knight.”

“Oh… huh, I remember she had quite the short temper. It’s nice to see her using her energy for something that doesn’t involve my decapitation.” I chuckled but Shiru didn’t.

I sighed away the shame from the bad joke and turned to the south.

The sun was starting to set but we still had some time and so we promptly made our way to the mountain.

Our first destination was the refugee city of Eimvu.

We stopped by the large office building where the custodians were hard at work but my destination was the highest office in the four-storey tall building.

There I was greeted by Anda and Tasha, who held in her hands a little baby girl.

Shiru and I joined them in sitting around a table in the centre of the living room.

I looked around and saw that most of the office had been turned into a child friendly space. The floor was covered in a thick carpet and the kitchen was far from the single bed which was behind Anda and Tasha.

“Hello.” I greeted.

“Hello, Katsíki.” The two greeted although Tasha added the “Lord” part.

“How are the Ia doing?”

“Fairly well. The Ash Wraiths have been nothing but welcoming and understanding so… yes, we are doing well.”

I nodded before glancing at the little girl who was dressed in a cute grey onesie.

“And the little one?”

“Siyul is doing great. Although I wish she was a bit more talkative.” Anda chuckled.

“She will be, soon enough.” Tasha whispered while leaning to the side and rested on Anda’s shoulder.

I couldn’t help but smile but there was something else I wanted to do.

“May I?” I asked while transforming into my larger self and extending my arms.

Tasha and Anda exchanged glances.

Tasha then offered Siyul to me and I gently accepted the little one. A little Rendaro girl with skin as white as snow and hair as dark as moonless night.

The child was sleeping and so I didn’t expect her to make any noises but when she did, a strange low groan, my heart trembled.

I then hurriedly offered her back to Tasha before suddenly moving my wheelchair backwards.

“Ahem! Take good care of her, OK?” I asked as Shiru stood up.

Anda and Tasha, although visibly surprised, nodded.

Shiru and I then teleported into the mountain itself but before we entered Nira's office, I took a moment to compose myself.

Shiru simply watched as I took deep and evenly paced breaths.

I then sighed before entering the office to find Nira and Istel having tea in the living area.

“Oh- Hello, Katsíki. Sorry, we weren’t expected you.” Nira said while rushing onto her feet to greet me but I raised my left hand, stopping her movements.

“Don’t worry about it. I just wanted to check up on you.”

“Oh- well, there is really nothing to report. Unless you want to join us for tea.”

I shook my head.

“Sorry, can’t. I need to check up on one last place before heading back home. So goodbye for now.”

Nira nodded prompting Shiru and I left the office.

“Where to?” She asked.

“Cohadiya.”

She nodded and it wasn’t long before we were in Serylea’s office.

She was hard at work on what looked like a road system that would connect Coh to just about every major settlement we knew.

“Hey, wanna join us for dinner?” I asked.

“Oh, sure.” Serylea said before messily putting away her blueprints.

She then joined us on the trip home but before we made our way to Shiru’s house, we picked up Fíor and Farin.

After making our way to Shiru’s house, we all sat in the living room under the light of a handful of orbs.

I then looked into the eyes of those I loved.

Each of them looked at me with expression that varied from heartbroken to hopeful.

I then remembered something I had asked Rina and Zuri.

Are you happy with the life you lived?

I asked myself the same question and while looking into the eyes of those I cared for I only had one answer.

Yes.